Madness
by End Noesis
Summary: Unexpectedly reunited by magical force ten years later, Sakura and the others must find out why. Randomness ensues.


**A/N:** This came out of nowhere. I meant to keep it short and sweet for my 'Winged' series but this is what resulted after an hour of random typing. I don't possess a beta-reader so please kindly point out any mistakes (help a girl out!). I don't know what goes on in my head sometimes, but here is one of those tidbits of my faulty lobes.

* * *

We sat around the conference-room sized table. It could have been analogous to long royal tables with extravagance of foods served for regal guests in some golden palace, but we were devastatingly ordinary in citizenship and the cherry wood polished surface devoid of even a crumb of peasant bread.

It was an upsetting sight for some of the more gluttonous guests around the perimeter of the sad tabletop.

Cerberus reverted from his stuffed animal guise to his true form; the gold chair adjusted to the enchanted lion-size and shape, making it no more easier to escape. His stomach grumbled its complaints, finding no humor in the uncanny tardiness of dinner this evening or in the impromptu meeting he teleported to with us.

Eriol's moon guardian, Ruby Moon, spoke first, ceasing her irritating rapping with long magenta-colored nails, "Am I dreaming?"

Touya rolled his desk chair over to her and pinched her. "No." She yelped and managed to send him rolling back to his prior position with a well-placed kick.

Sakura searched for her cards and pendant, frantically, finding neither at her disposal.

Syaoran on cue, sought his sword without success. Whoever brought us here was knowledgeable of their magical profiles.

Meiling looked the most distraught, the garnet of her eyes frantic and lit as if afire with perplexed rage. Her chair adorned with the yin and yang sign of her traditional robe was rocking to and fro with her in it as she struggled to free herself of its invisible clutch. It had turned it into a rocking chair at sensing her intentions, so her attempts were wasted.

I could feel senses heightening in the room - fearfulness, anxiety, anger, and others. Albeit, not all gave off such aura.

Spinel Sun expression was apathetic, his confinement neither shocking nor interesting. He yawned, unimpressed. Boredom was a permanent front, and likely, his true face in the absence of glucose and other tasty monosaccharides.

We turned and necked around our chair (save for Spinel), pulling at the gravity keeping us firmly in place. In vain, we were secured to our customized seats. My own had crescent moons inlaid in silver, pearl-lining the edging and legs, with cushioning fashioned of pale silk silver.

Tomoyo was amused in her own resplendent vanity chair (amethyst in color, as expected), her maniacal musical giggle ringing throughout the vast room, which was unexpected, but she was as decidedly random and eccentric as most affluent Tomoeda residents in past and present have been. Clow and Eriol non-exempt of course.

"What do you find so amusing, Daidouji-san?" I asked.

Eriol appeared in his own chair, dark and starry in pattern, containing a galaxy in its suede-like fabric. It was probably so, sparing no extravagance. "She's excited for our tea party as much as you all are."

"Tea?" Syaoran parroted.

"Party?" Sakura joined.

My mistress' brother found little solace in the answer and definitely further irritation. "My invitation to RSVP must have gotten lost in the mail: in any case it was a clear DECLINE." A fat vein protruded from his forehead. "Weren't you supposed to be in England with my ex-girlfriend?"

The blue-haired boy grinned. "Seems like Tomoyo-chan is the only perceptive one of the lot."

Everyone turned to her. Cerberus spoke above all others' decibel levels, halting their protests in the process. "You knew, how? How about warning your best friend?" He implicated himself as the best friend and not her human one, our mistress; course, he would never admit to such a linguistic slip. His blazing eyes turned to me. "You! You're not surprised at all, either. You sneaky bastard of a brother."

I cleared my voice. "Calm yourself down, Cerberus. It was only a minor detail. Something we saw in passing... yesterday." I cast my glare onto Clow's reincarnation directing my words with deliberate venom, "There was no indication of a tea party, merely a business reunion."

"The card?" Sakura chimed.

"A Clow Card? I would have sensed it," Syaoran said.

Tomoyo smiled, and threw out her invitation: a pristine business card with Eriol Hiiragizawa name printed in blue Arial Bold font, 16pts, centered. The card was textured cotton with the faintest metallic shimmer. I turned it over and showed the handwritten message in fine calligraphy: "August 9 - 6:05PM / board meeting." The message faded to blank after it was read.

"I don't recall seeing one of those," Ruby Moon said. "As your guardian, I would have appreciated a more conspicuous invitation - you know how much I love parties!" She pouted exaggeratedly. "This room hardly screams celebratory or even welcoming... so cold and sad, it's so hospice-_sy_."

"Because you are all too busy to take a look around you. It's been ten years since we last reunited." It had been the parting dinner, with Eriol, his guardians, and lover dispersing to England, Syaoran to Hong Kong, and shortly weeks after, Tomoyo left for Tokyo, transferred suddenly to a private school for the elite at Sonomi's decision. Touya worked more hours to save enough for the expenses college would bring. With magic out in the open with her father, his love of history and Cerberus love of talking, mostly of himself, Sakura and I remained as each other's stable companionship.

"It's not all my doing," Eriol said with a wink in my direction and Sakura's.

Sakura clasped my arm, whispering, "What does he mean?"

"Huh?" Ruby Moon scratched her head. Spinel Sun beckoned her and he disclosed his speculation into her ear. "Oh! _Oh. Oh-ho-ho.._." A sly grin plastered on her face, she cupped her hands and shared the message to Touya.

"Whose arrival are we celebrating?" he asked.

Eriol teased with a question,"Uncle, you mean whose arrival are we expecting?"

Ruby Moon was enjoying herself, uncomfortably so, at our expense. "Shush, grandfather! Let him piece it together."

Sakura asked me, "What do they mean?"

"Our son," I said.

Her best friend could not restrain herself any further and blurted out the words in a surprisingly coherent verbal stream. "This is your bridal-baby-bachelorette-bachelor party, blushing bride-and-mommy-to-be! Phew, that was such a tongue-twister."

"Nonsense, there should be at least four additional celebrations, properly planned and executed by yours truly," Ruby announced.

Sakura's eyes widened. "I'm-I'm pregnant?"

Syaoran turned to me, "You told _me_ but not _her_?"

Across from us, Touya was fuming, having taken in all of Daidouji's shocking alliteration and subsequent discussion. "Why would you tell _him_? Does Yukito know?"

Syaoran answered instead, "Sakura and I have history, and in all honesty, I wouldn't have told you either. You give off a homicidal air when it comes to dating your sister. Which I get, she is really special and I'm grateful to call her my friend."

"Damn right," Touya said.

Cerberus spoke next, "How do you know she's expecting?"

"I saw the future. _He_ showed me," I said. "I only suspected it in the beginning. There was something different, a change in aura, or more like an addition of aura about her."

"He's going to be even more powerful than all of us combined. He created that as his first card at age five, _five_, and learned how to combine cards to serve greater purposes... gosh I am such a proud grandpa," Eriol said. Tears, actual tears formed at the brim of his eyes, as if the meeting could not get any more unusual.

Sakura smiled feebly. "You met him?"

"Yes," I replied. "But I cannot tell you more. I promised him not to disclose too much."

"Well that's not fair."

Clow's reincarnation happily continued for me, "It's for your own good. He is anxious to meet you... properly of course, none of this magical cheating."

With a wave of his hand, Eriol materialized tea cups with each guest's favorite tea. In olden days, I favored violet, for its fragrance and presentation, more than flavor. A few drops of fireweed honey to preserve its subtly, for I cared not for the drink itself, only for the inclusion in the tea parties Cerberus and Clow favored. I peeked into my cup to find a violet flower head floating in the thin broth. Of course he would know.

He dropped a sugarcube into his tea and mixed it. "He only met us at our supplications. We were concerned with your ability to carry him to full-term safely. Magic is a genetically recessive trait and combined with certain other factors," he paused to look over to me, "history has shown some lethal combinations, not only in the makeup of the child but the survival of the mother. Clow Reed's mother died birthing, you know."

"What about her immortality?" she asked. It was a curse accompanying her power over the cards and guardians, passed down through generations in a weak sorcerous lineage, save for her father's indirect linkage to Clow.

"In that moment, the mother bleeds and feels pain as a mortal, in an attempt to pass on the trait to child for a safer delivery. A protective temporary phase. He or _she_ is too mortal in the womb, until the first breath. It's the method by which the babe proves its worth for an eternal life. Natural selection obviously still at work."

The wheels of an executive office chair rolled round the table to face me with its less-than-pleased prisoner: Touya. "You did this to her!"

Sakura reached for his hand before it wrung itself on my robe or around my neck. "Oniichan, it's okay. It's my fault."

"How so?" Meiling inquired.

"I made the first move."

Cerberus laughed. "Well THAT was unexpected."

Ruby, having been quiet for more than a minute provided her unwanted insight into my charm. "I don't know... he is frigid and angsty. It's totally plausible. Years ago, I pulled a plethora of olympics-gymnastic-level flirt moves - metaphorical and even literal- on the fool... not even a patronizing pat on the head."

"Well I just assumed since Yukito is with To-" Cerberus began.

"Well that will make a funny love square-er triang-er angular geometric figure."

Touya's chair shook, additional veins popped along his temples and the length of his arms. "If I wasn't secured to this seat, I would punch you in the face."

"Thankfully you are," I said.

"Not forever I expect," he countered.

"I can wait, time is on my side. You'd be shocked at my patience. A good virtue for a father-to-be. I'm still watching over her and will continue to do so, as you desired. Falling for her was an unexpected, _unplanned_ consequence of your request."

"Don't scapegoat me."

Tomoyo chirped to Sakura, "I'm so happy I get to share this with you!"

"Share?"

"I'm expecting as well!"

All heard turned to Eriol. He choked on his tea for a few seconds before regaining ability to talk. "Why do you assume it's me? We don't have anything in common other than our social economic status and fantastic complexion."

"It's mine," Syaoran declared. Gasping and murmuring erupted.

"You two?"

"No, Meiling."

Meiling looked over to Daidouji. "As a favor to us." Tomoyo held onto her hand securely, gazing into her eyes with open, genuine love. It was the publicly displayed form of affection Sakura insinuated her preference over my prudent showcasing. I leaned over and pressed my lips against her forehead. Baby steps were in order, especially with her brother frowning at us both, and soon enough _real_ baby steps would follow.

Ruby slapped her empty tea cup against the tabletop. "More tea! Preferably something with a _kick_."

"Agreed. There is a decade of catching up, gaps to fill, hazy memories to crystallize and the evening is passing us by." Eriol waved his hand once more. "Oh and Kaho, my wife, is -what's the word- _knocked up_ as well. Yes, we eloped. Come join us, dear."

An extra chair appeared with the very pregnant but ever lovely Kaho Mizuki in it. Cups refilled with tea, some with stronger brews, others with warmed, sweet milk. Seats were no longer enchanted to keep guests forcibly there, but no one made a motion to leave or toward a violent outburst.

At least not yet.


End file.
